An aerial view shows the new St. Croix Crossing bridge on Thursday, July 20, 2017. The new bridge, which connects Oak Park Heights, Minn. and St. Joseph, Wis., replaces the old Stillwater Lift Bridge. (John Autey / Special to the Pioneer Press)

The public is invited to help mark the opening of the St. Croix Crossing, the new bridge linking Oak Park Heights with St. Joseph, Wis., with a 10 a.m. ribbon cutting today. Here are a few details and thoughts about the bridge:

Cost of total project: $624.3 million to $646.8 million

Piers in the river: 5

Piers on land: 7 in Minnesota, 1 in Wisconsin

Bridge structure: “extradosed,” a hybrid of a cable-stayed and segmental box bridge structure

Total paint: 22,000 gallons for 1.1 million square feet of surface area

Dump-truck loads of sand, muck and gravel removed to reach bedrock: about 2,500

Source: Minnesota Department of Transportation

VOICES

Mary McComber, mayor of Oak Park Heights.

“The new bridge is breathtaking. It’s one thing to see a computer-generated model or to see it on paper, but to see it actually completed is spectacular.”

— Mary McComber, mayor of Oak Park Heights

“In 1967, I was a freshman state senator from Stillwater representing all of Washington County. We had wanted the bridge replaced for several years but didn’t know there were any plans to do that until a lobbyist for the state highway department came to see me to get me to vote for a 1 cent per gallon increase in the gas tax. … He told me if I voted for it and it passed, there would be a new bridge at Stillwater by 1972. Naive me, I voted for it. … For the rest of my senate career (10 years), every time they proposed a gas-tax increase (which they seemed to do every session), I gave the same speech (sort of “Fool me once shame on me, etc.”) as I voted no.

“I hope to get to the dedication of the new bridge and see if any old friends are there — including some I worked with in the ’60s and ’70s as we tried to get the bridge built. Well, better late than never.”

“Creating the Coalition for the St. Croix River Crossing harnessed the energy from decades of frustration. The region came together … and in a time of real gridlock in Washington, D.C., we passed a major bill against some pretty big odds. It would not have happened without a team of champions led by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and Wisconsin U.S. Reps. Sean Duffy and Ron Kind. They put aside partisanship and delivered. Honestly, it was inspiring for us to work with them.

“The new bridge is a world-class design that does this beautiful river valley proud. … I anticipate we will become a national bicycle and hiker destination, a real gateway to the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. The views from on top of the new bridge are spectacular.”

— Bill Berndt, the coalition’s federal lobbyist

“There is an extraordinary sense of pride among our members to be a part of this project that will link Minnesota and Wisconsin for generations to come. A project of this magnitude doesn’t get completed without skilled and safety-conscious workers. We want the public to know both how hard our members worked and also how proud we are to have played a significant role in this quality project.”

— Tim Mackey, president and business manager of the Laborers District Council of Minnesota & North Dakota

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

“What I think is the most amazing part of the story, after all these decades, is the biggest argument used against the bridge was that it would be an eyesore, and it is beautiful. I was up there on Friday, and people are going to be slowing down to look at the view. It’s beautiful on the bridge, but the bridge is beautiful from afar. I think that’s a nice ending. It would have been really unfortunate if it was an ugly eyesore, and it’s far from it.

“As for the exemption to the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, I have total respect for people who felt differently than I did, but I figured Congress, when they passed that important bill, put in an exemption process for a reason, and that’s for rare circumstances like you had in Stillwater, where you had a community with a lot of people who were using a bridge … so you needed a bigger footprint and a bigger area to put the bridge.”

— U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

“I think part of the beauty of the bridge and how it sits and fits into the river valley is really based off the stakeholder group and their vision. They worked to respect the resources and the river valley but fit a bridge in there. (The bridge) blends into the Wisconsin bluff, sits very gently on the Minnesota side of this river valley, but also it fits within the river valley. … It’s a balanced solution.”

Mary Divine is a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. She covers Washington County and the St. Croix River Valley, but has also spent time covering the state Capitol. She has won numerous journalism awards, including the Premack Award and the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists' Page One Award. Prior to joining the Pioneer Press in 1998, she worked for the Rochester, Minn., Post-Bulletin and at the St. Joseph, Mo., News-Press. Her work has also appeared in a number of magazines, including Mpls/St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Business Monthly and Minnesota Magazine. She is a graduate of Carleton College and lives in St. Paul with her husband, Greg Myers, and their three children, Henry, 16, Frances, 14, and Fred, 11.

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